Sport for peace and development

This is not a sports page, but an editorial comment on the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) on the theme scoring for People and the Planet. The day is marked by the United Nations today and the theme reminds us of the famous verse by the early 20th-century American sportswriter Grantland Rice known for his elegant prose. It goes like this, “For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes not that you won or lost, but how you played the game!”  

Sport really began on Olympian and voluntary display of skills but today with One Day Internationals (ODIs) and T20s getting the spotlight on the pitch, sport has become big business and often bad business with match fixing and most players giving priority to money rather than the character-building dimensions of sport. Sri Lanka has made great achievements in cricket with spinner Muttiah Muralitharan being the highest wicket taker in the world and the country scoring a record of more than 900 runs in Test cricket, besides what could be the greatest achievement of winning the ODI World Cup with the team being strategically led by famous Arjuna Ranatunga, who later went into politics and somewhat spoiled his reputation, as did the 1996 ODI World Cup master blaster Sanath Jayasuriya. 

In a statement, the UN says sport presents an opportunity to recognize the positive role sport and physical activity play in communities and in people’s lives across the globe. Sport has the power to change the world; it is a fundamental right and a powerful tool to strengthen social ties and promote sustainable development and peace, as well as solidarity and respect for all. As in previous years, this overarching theme “Scoring for People and the Planet” allows for IDSDP activities to broadly focus around the impact and influence of sport on sustainable development and peace. 

From empowering women and girls, young men and women, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups to advancing health, sustainability, and education objectives, sport offers tremendous potential for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and for promoting peace and human rights. The United Nations has long recognized the power and universality of sport, using it to unite individuals and groups through supporting sport for development efforts, participating in events from the global to the grassroots level, and developing its own sports-related campaigns and initiatives. 

Within IDSDP 2023’s global theme, “Scoring for People and the Planet,” a number of  Davos-style conversations, highlighting the power of football and other sports in advancing the SDGs and human rights will be held today at UN Headquarters in New York. The discussions will focus on three main themes: sustainability and climate action, gender equality, and the fight against racism and hate speech.

Due to its vast reach, unparalleled popularity and foundation of positive values, sport is ideally positioned to contribute towards the UN objectives for development and peace. To raise awareness of this potential, April 6 was declared as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) by the UN General Assembly. The adoption of this Day signifies the increasing recognition by the UN of the positive influence that sport can have on the advancement of human rights, and social and economic development.

Sport has proven to be a cost-effective and flexible tool in promoting peace and development objectives. In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, sport’s role for social progress is further acknowledged by the General Assembly: «Sport is also an important enabler of sustainable development. We recognize the growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect and the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and of young men and women, individuals and communities as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives.” Football for the Goals  (FFTG), is a UN membership-based initiative that provides a platform for the global football community to engage with and advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is an opportunity to build on football’s powerful and influential reach and for football organizations to work together to become agents of change by aligning messaging, strategies and operations with the aspirations of the SDGs.

This initiative inspires and guides the world of football - from grassroots clubs and NGOs to professional leagues and international confederations - to build on existing sustainability approaches and to implement SDG-related strategies that lead to behavioural change. Members also use their visibility and outreach power to raise the profile of the SDGs through amplification and advocacy.